Superstition

Everyone (even the most logical person) is at times superstitious. Write a poem on one of your own superstitions or a superstition that interests you.

Eg.
Tapping wood for good luck or crossing your fingers.
Throw salt over your shoulder.
Saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes, so they don't become possessed by the devil.
Holding your breath when you pass a cemetery.
Black cats. Ghosts. Aliens. Psychic vampires.
Going to heaven or hell because of...
Pretty much any superstition you have or are fascinated by.

Rules:
2 entries per person
Any poetic style
No more than 500 words per poem
It must be personal, from your point of view.
So no religiously attacking anyone based on your beliefs. If you want to write on heaven or hell it must because because of what you've done/ haven't done, not what on what anyone else has or hasn't done. No prejudice against any group of people or a specific person.

No fighting or random chatter please.

The Messengers of The Gods

They are the ancient birds, the clairvoyant ones that flew within The Gods aura.
Charged with conveying enlightenment between the semitransparent mists.
Saving Pistis, the blessed spirit, lifted on blue wings away from Pandora.  
Taking the Moirai's thread from Atropos, once Klotho had spun the twists.

The worlds converged, merged and synchronized into symbiotic stasis.
The Gods withdrew, but charged their emissaries to keep diligent supervision
over humanities expansion, to recount any advancement to their Graces.
Myths and legends swirled, some transient, some permitted, others suffered rescission
   
When it rained for two score days, they remained too audacious for confinement.
Circling the hand-crafted vessel, the families destination unknown, the dove they venerated
Diminishing waters allowing them respite, choosing alienation to continue assignment
Each progression, every diversification, the rise and fall of empires they kept annotated

Watching the seventh Celestial Princess transformed to a weaver girl, they were perplexed
The forsaken wealth replaced by eternal love, the marriage they consecrated with offspring
Her flight identified, The Empress offered restoration or destruction, Cowherd left annexed
To recompense, on the annual Qixi, a rejoining bridge for the lovers they make with wing  

Four attended a birth, each tasked with promulgation to the Moirai, predisposition abetting  
The Jesuit was proclaimed a child of a God that they refused to acknowledge as sacrosanct
Waiting for one score and ten, witnessing the ensuing meteoric rise from unknown to King
As the Romans dispensed law, all birds wept and sang comfort, the messenger's silence succinct

Throughout time immemorial, they have remained despised, hated for their diligent service
They remain vigilant, attentive to The Gods, bearing witness to their disseminated judgements
I fear and respect their powers, watching for triple revolutions, burying the fallen with revered auspice
I salute to the single, addressing them formally, enquire as to their spouses health, craving endorsements.

One for Sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl and Four for a boy
Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret never to be told
Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten for a surprise that shouldn’t be missed
Eleven for health, Twelve for wealth, Thirteen beware of pure evil itself.

(This is a purely personal write and my own perception. I am not wishing to cause offence or belittle anyone else's views, beliefs or historical concepts. I respect all opinions - "To each man his own God")

BLACK MAGIC

Sitting hands clasped between their knees,
My fellow man
Prays to satan,

Throwing rocks and blowing it in hand,
hidden in the dark
Their true intentions never revealed.

They whisper in the air
And bury nails in the sand,
All these against their fellow man.

Some even cut themselves to be in a trance
Going so far to lend the powers of jinns
All these to have an edge over their fellow man..

But as GOD made black and white,
What is done in the dark,
Shall be brought to the light!

(Inspired by "Gods gonna cut you down" - Johnny Cash)

A Ramble On Superstition

First and foremost,
They cannot be totally explained.
That's why they are called 'super'-stitions right?
Like that one of broken ladders,
How it is mixed up with Black cats
And moving shadows,
Or how sparrows indicate
Where The Angel of death
Will visit next..
Or what they say about fish bite..
They just don't add up,
Yet there is an off-chance they do..
Cos they sometimes add up..
(sigh)
At this rate there is no stopping myself
turning into a superstitious man..
I sit and I wonder how little of the world
My eyes can see
And how much more is out there
That goes unseen..
Many a-wise saying I know
Though, most of them I've never experienced..
I read a lot.
So a large chunk of what I know;
I read from books..
Did you know that they used to think the world was flat
But then they said the world is round
Showing pictures of it and all..
I mean I study these things in school
But never can I totally be called to witness on it
They're others ideas, Others experiments,
Others opinions on the matter,
Not mine..
So no, I refuse to totally commit..
School is hard when you think that way..
I won't lie to myself,
I dislike school but I loathe ignorance..
I'll compare superstition with
How gravity works
Or magnets
Or those forces that are evident
Which the eyes cannot see..
They add up, but still yet, they just don't add up..
I feel them, sometimes I smell them(weird),
But I am blind to them..
Ah! the wind
Just like the wind,
Soothing and comforting..
I feel it, sometimes I smell it(weird)
But I am blind it..
I am pushed to superstitions' way
When I think about how little it is
That the human eye gazes on
Compared to what eludes its gaze..

Is a demon on my back?; a guardian angel beside me?..
"The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence"

Thank you Waggy and Nas for your entries :)

Night Terror

As i lay on my bed
Sideways,
how I've always slept
A distinct inclement wind swept
then on my bed it crept
It weighs
sank the bed a tad
Malicious gaze, i felt
on my back
Smooth strands of hair
brushed across my neck
and a breath of jasmine scent
gently blown on my ear
i vaguely smell and hear
convinced now,
another shares my bed
My guts shrank and shrank
then unceasing screams in my head
so agonizing it shatter souls
wish an end to this torment

cast the die
i snap a turn
...nothing there

Thank you Fred for your entry :)

To say “bless you”
after one sneezes
is a superstition indeed,
and to those who know
will always say so,
but to say nothing
and remain silent
is just heartless and cold


(for every sneeze, the heart stops beating for one second)

thank you for your entry Devlin

MY SUPERSTITIONS

Wear my Hamsa around my neck

The Evil Eye is alive and well

Look at somebody, make them sick

The colour red also does the trick


Bragging about anything is dangerous

The people you know get so jealous

Soon you will lose whatever you got

Shut your mouth, for better or for worse


I find a penny, pick it up

Keeping it won’t bring me luck

Give to you and then you will see

How much luck a penny can be


Salt shaker fell while I was having lunch

Throw some over my left shoulder should protect me

Put salt in every corner of the house

Evil Spirits do not dare approach me


You can dismiss these beliefs

As primitive, ethnocentric, magical thinking

But only when my mother threw those cactuses out

Did my husband come a courting.

Thank you Kitty for your entry :)

Give Me A Sign

I believe somewhat in the psychology of astrology
Twelve signs designed to define my destiny
The outcome of my day foretold in the newspaper
A prediction of what just might occur to me later
A planet is assigned to each zodiac sign
Along with a symbol that represents the time
The month and the date that each of us was birthed
They're supposed resemble our personalities on earth
All twelve signs are organized in quarters
Four elements fire, earth, air, and water
Aries, Leo, Sagitarrius
Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio
Ram, Lion, Archer
Twins, Scale, Water Bearer
Bull, Goat, Virgin
Crab, Fish, Scorpion
A cosmic connection based on constellations
Or maybe a coincidence I need further confirmation

Its not much of a superstition
Mostly just a gift
I see spirits of the dead
Ones that like to drift.

I see them reincarnated
It happens all the time.
Not the way they really died
But how they will look next.

I know a lot
About the living and the dead
I know they both have secrets and
They both hold lots of dread.

They can be happy though as well
Just like my best friend.
I have a spirit next to me
As I write this, till the end.

His name is Jacob Carson
Jake for short, he decrees.
He writes a few of my poems
When I can't, you see.

So I believe in supernatural
Paranormal and just wierd.
But my gift is just another thing
To tie me to the feared.

Thank you SupHomeBoi and Vixen Wings for your entries :)

What happened...this competition was finished and the names of the winners and the honorable mentions were up this morning when I logged on.  I was not the winner, nor the honorable mention......This sounds funny ...to declare a winner and then retract it....I guess most of us above are not meritorious enough.....or can you give another explanation....???????